Gelator-Enhanced Organohydrogels with Switchable Mechanics and High-Strain Shape-Memory Capacity

Abstract

Hydrogels and organogels, as two crucial representatives of soft materials, have attracted immense interest. However, they develop independently along two parallel lines, and these gels with single networks have their inherent drawbacks. For example, hydrogels tend to freeze, and organogels are usually brittle. Herein, organogels were incorporated into a hydrogel matrix for the synthesis of organohydrogels GOHs through polymerization in Pickering emulsion. The rigid organogel domains contribute to enhancing the strength of organohydrogels. Besides this, the organogels derived from 12-HAS self-assembly behavior exhibit a gel−sol transition when the temperature reaches 70 °C, thus leading to a thermo-softening behavior in the GOHs. Due to the phase transition of organogel domains and the elastic hydrogel network, the resultant organohydrogels demonstrate high-strain shape-memory performance (over 1000%) which could help achieve full recovery in seconds. Consequently, GOHs are endowed with the potential of practical application in soft robots, wearable devices, and biological materials.

Environment tolerant, adaptable and stretchable organohydrogels: preparation, optimization, and applications

“…Reproduced with permission. 82 Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society. (c) One-step copolymerization of hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers in a binary solvent.…”

“…(b) Emulsion polymerization. Reproduced with permission 82. Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society.…”

Recent Progress in Bioinspired Design Strategies for Freeze Resistant Hydrogel Platforms toward Flexible Electronics

“…Reproduced with permission. 96 Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society. (c) Molecular design of organohydrogels by copolymerization of hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers into a binary solvent system assisted by nuleobase pairs.…”

“…(b) Schematic illustration of gelator-enhanced organohydrogels polymerized in a Pickering emulsion and cooling process. Reproduced with permission 96. Copyright 2021, American Chemical Society.…”

Amphiphilic and fatigue-resistant organohydrogels for small-diameter vascular grafts

“…Organohydrogels, inspired by the concept of "binary cooperative complementary," have emerged as promising "nonswelling" hydrogels with specific properties (15)(16)(17)(18). In addition to their basic amphipathicity, organohydrogels have various properties such as freeze tolerance (17), shape memory (19), and reconfigurable surfaces (20). Thus, organohydrogels have been widely applied in soft robotics, flexible electronics, and bioinspired ionic skin.…”